Ad Campaigns
Where you place your ad impacts its effectiveness: Magna, Pinterest study
MUMBAI: In a revelatory study that turns traditional media buying on its head, research by global media investment and intelligence company Magna and Pinterest has uncovered a tantalising truth: where your ads appear matters almost as much as the ads themselves.
The revealing research, conducted across multiple platforms and involving over 6,200 participants, reveals that a positive advertising environment can supercharge brand metrics by up to 94 per cent. Think of it as media magic – the same creative can perform dramatically differently depending on its digital neighbourhood.
Key findings include:
* Trust and safety remain the top drivers of purchase intent
* Positivity trumps entertainment as a performance catalyst
* High-ticket items see the most dramatic uplift in purchase intent
Brands can effectively juice their marketing performance by:
* Knowing their audience’s definition of positivity
* Using contextual targeting to place ads alongside uplifting content
* Creating inclusion lists with media partners that reflect brand values
The study’s neuroscience component adds scientific sizzle, showing that positive environments create a 20 per cent increase in “lean-forward” moments – essentially, viewers who are more engaged and attentive.
Most provocatively, the research suggests brands can generate 24 per cent more sales by simply being more thoughtful about media placement – without spending an extra penny.
The message is clear: in the digital advertising ecosystem, happiness isn’t just a warm gun – it’s a revenue-generating weapon.
To get further details of the study click here
NATIONAL: Amazon Ads has laid out a sharply tech-led vision for the advertising industry in 2026, arguing that artificial intelligence, streaming TV and creator partnerships will combine to turn brand building into a more precise, performance-driven business.
At the heart of the shift, the company says, is the fusion of AI with Amazon’s vast trove of shopping, browsing and streaming signals, allowing advertisers to move beyond blunt reach metrics to campaigns designed around real customer behaviour.
“The future of advertising is not about reaching more people, but the right people with messages that resonate,” said Amazon Ads India head and vice president Girish Prabhu. “By combining AI with deep customer insights, we help brands move from broadcasting campaigns to having meaningful conversations wherever audiences spend their time.”
One of the biggest changes, according to Amazon Ads, will be the collapse of the wall between media planning and creative development. Retail media, powered by first-party data, is increasingly shaping everything from brand discovery to final purchase, pushing marketers to design campaigns around audience insight rather than internal instinct.
AI is also moving from a support tool to a creative engine. Agentic AI, which automates and accelerates production, is expected to make high-quality creative accessible even to small businesses, compressing weeks of work into hours and giving challengers the ability to compete with larger brands on speed and scale.
Behind the scenes, AI-driven analytics will take on a bigger role in campaign optimisation, identifying patterns, spotting opportunities and recommending actions that would previously have required teams of analysts.
Streaming TV is another big battleground. With India’s video streaming audience now above 600 million and connected TV users at 129.2 million in 2025, advertisers are set to treat streaming not just as a branding channel but as a performance engine, measured increasingly by sales, sign-ups and bookings rather than just reach.
Finally, Amazon Ads sees creators and contextual advertising reshaping how brands tell stories. Creators will act less like influencers and more like long-term partners, while scene-aware ads on streaming platforms will allow brands to insert hyper-relevant offers into the flow of what viewers are watching.
Taken together, Amazon Ads argues, these shifts mark a move towards advertising that is both more human and more measurable, where AI handles the complexity, and creativity does the persuading.
